A Greek-led fork of Mambo 4.5.2.3 that started in December 2005, focusing on multilingual support, security enhancements, and a modernized architecture. Remarkably, it's still alive -- sort of -- with its last stable release (4.6) in 2017 and some forum activity as recently as 2026.
A Greek-led fork of Mambo 4.5.2.3 that started in December 2005, focusing on multilingual support, security enhancements, and a modernized architecture. Remarkably, it's still alive -- sort of -- with its last stable release (4.6) in 2017 and some forum activity as recently as 2026.
Development began in December 2005 by Ioannis Sannos and members of the former Greek Mambo community. The first release, "2006.0 Zeus," launched in June 2006. Unlike Joomla, which took the bulk of the Mambo community with it, Elxis carved out a quieter, more focused path -- emphasizing multilingual capabilities (translated into 40+ languages), enhanced security, and a clean architecture.
Elxis went through its own rebranding journey with version-year naming (2006.0, 2008.1, etc.) and eventually settled into a more conventional versioning scheme. A major rewrite came with version 4.0, which moved to a modern MVC architecture. The CMS earned a niche following, particularly in Europe and among users who needed strong multilingual support out of the box.
The last stable release was version 4.6 in August 2017. While the project website remains online and forums show sporadic activity, active development appears to have stalled. It's the CMS equivalent of a small-town diner that somehow stays open despite never seeming to have any customers.
Development begins, forking Mambo 4.5.2.3
First release: Elxis 2006.0 Zeus
Elxis 2008.1 released with significant improvements
Elxis 4.6 released (last known stable release)
Minor but persistent. Elxis found a genuine niche in multilingual CMS needs and proved that even small forks can sustain themselves for over a decade.